Why are you here? What are you expecting.
Not really a lecture – more a discussion of administration and the course. (usually don’t like this)
Want people to understand class – so they can decide whether they want to leave (or recruit their friends).
Design issues for a class are similar to design issues for a game
- Experience engineering (Game Design)
- Use “mechanics” to create “experiences” – need a framework for discussing
- Gammification (can be) silly – Experience design is useful – where do we draw the line
Introductions (me, alex) – students next time
Course History and Story
- Begin as a tech class (graphics 2)
- Bring in game design as a motivation for tech
- Bring in project focus (since we want to make games)
- Bring in group work/software engineering and design
- Bring in idea that design & project is actually the topic: class should reflect it
- Realism: can’t really get interesting depth with highly technical parts
- less likely you’ll get to use those details (since they are really specific, …)
- Complete inversion: focus on design, projects – tech topics just enough
Course Announcement
- especially interconnected parts
What’s new
- Anyone know about last year’s?
- We can play the games: since they are (almost) all on the web
- Basically worked – few fixes
- Better online forum (try something new)
- More help with Javascript getting started
- More confidence in JS/WebGL as platform
- More careful with making tech lectures relevant (or skipping)
Course Goals
- experiential – project, design
- learn to think about interactive system / game design
- experience working in groups
- some modern graphics tech you might not have gotten in 559
- some useful web programming skills (so you are marketable)
- build some cool stuff
Course Structure
- 3 projects (2,3,4 – 3,4,6 weeks)
- We pick the teams (discuss)
- Emphasis on making games
- Progressively more challenging
- bigger each time
- learn more about design each time
- Less constrained each time
- web browser / javascript
- 1st game: use flocking (why) & Canvas
- 2nd game: use WebGL
- 3rd game: anything goes
- Realism: keep other course aspects light so you can focus on projects
- Lectures – try not to make it a monologue
- Not always immediately relevant to projects
- No exams – how to keep you on track?
- Discussion in class vs. Online
Policies
- A little extra complexity because of class structure
- go through
- collaboration
Online Forum
- More than just hand in assignments
- General Discussion
- Games you play (learn to talk about them)
- Programming tips and tricks you pick up
- Questions you have
- Make postings about assignments and readings
Assignment 0
Project 1
- what we’ll do to help you
